We are requesting funds for major alterations and renovations of existing research space at the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University for the purposes of conducting basic and translational research in the field of vascular diseases. The College has recently established a Center for Vascular Biology in recognition of the importance of vascular diseases to our patient population, to exploit recent advances in the understanding of mechanisms underlying vascular disease, and to recognize the enormous opportunities for basic and translational research that have resulted. The Dean has identified a highly integrated team of first-rate investigators to serve as core faculty for the vascular biology effort, and seeks to establish a physical environment of 5,000 square feet of laboratory space supportive of the special programmatic requirements of this new research initiative in our Medical Center. The core group of four investigators represents the Departments of Surgery, Pathology, Center. The core group of four investigators represents the Departments of Surgery, Pathology, Medicine, and Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, and forms the nucleus for a large collaborative group drawn from the Departments of Anesthesiology, Neurological Surgery, Pediatrics, Pharmacology, Radiology, and the School of Dental and Oral Surgery. The Center will target four key thematic areas in vascular biology including diabetic vascular dysfunction, cerebrovascular disease, reperfusion injury and the biology of thrombosis. This program already accounts for approximately $1.3 million in annual direct costs from NIH (further direct costs from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and Heart Association are approximately $571,350/year), in addition to approximately $1.02 million/year in pending Federal grants. The larger collaborative group of investigators accounts for approximately $4.8 million in annual direct costs on Federal grants. Exciting observations have emanated from the core group of investigators, including new insights into mechanisms underlying diabetic vascular disease, cerebral ischemic and amyloid angiopathy, and the biology of thrombosis. Core members of the Center for Vascular Biology are now working in non- contiguous places within the University, using space designed for research activities quite distinct from those required for their collaborative research program in Vascular Biology. The proposed changes in the research environment will facilitate our ability to upgrade, consolidate and modernize the physical plant into efficiently designed and operational laboratories with specialized shared core facilities and laboratory modules. This will result in more effective use of our laboratory space, and will allow us to efficiently perform studies which can only be done with considerable difficulty at the present time. These facilities will be used exclusively for the purposes related to the research as outlined by the specific aim of our federal and non-federal grant proposals, and the research training (teaching) of pre-doctoral and postdoctoral fellows for at least the next 20 years.